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DRAFT Regular Meeting March 14, 2005 Charlton Town Board Saratoga County New York
The meeting was called to order at 7:30 P.M. by Supervisor Acunto. One sealed bid was received for the police car. It was for $1,500.00. We had stated in our resolution last month that we would require a minimum bid of $2,500.00. We will have to re-bid it.
After the pledge to the flag, the invocation was given by Town Clerk Gail Hanchar.
At the regular meeting of the Town Board of Charlton, Saratoga County, New York, held at 7:30 P.M. at the Charlton Town Hall, called to order by Supervisor Acunto, there were present:
Councilman Alan Grattidge Councilman Robert Lippiello Councilman Dorothy Mitchell Councilman Sandra Verola Supervisor Ferdinand Acunto
Motion made by Councilman Grattidge, seconded by Councilman Verola that the minutes of the February 14 Town Board Meeting be accepted as received:
Approved: Councilman Grattidge Yes Councilman Lippiello Yes Councilman Mitchell Yes Councilman Verola Yes Supervisor Acunto Yes
Motion made by Councilman Grattidge, seconded by Councilman Verola that the minutes of the February 28 Agenda Meeting be accepted as received:
Approved: Councilman Grattidge Yes Councilman Lippiello Abstain Councilman Mitchell Yes Councilman Verola Yes Supervisor Acunto Yes
ABSTRACT OF CLAIMS:
The total of the bills approved at the Agenda Meeting was $50,830.21.
Vouchers for the month were #1152-#1254.
TOWN CLERK’S REPORT:
Gail Hanchar read the Town Clerk’s Report. She reported taking in $94.80. Motion made by Councilman Grattidge, seconded by Councilman Mitchell. PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR (Agenda items):
No comments.
SUPERVISOR’S REPORT AND ANNOUNCEMENTS:
February revenue and expenditures: General Fund – Expenditures of $52,253.04. Revenue of $23,845.76. Highway Fund – Expenditures of $39,454.45. Revenue of $75,966.77. Water District #1 – Expenditures of $4,414.87. Revenue of $498.19. Water District #2 – Expenditures of $174.66. No revenue.
Major expenditures: General Fund – Legislative Contractual of $1,360.83, Law Contractual of $4,141.70, Building Operating of $3,841.04, Ambulance Contractual of $5,618.75, Programs for the Aging Contractual of $1,137.50 and Library Contractual of $13,045.00. Highway Fund – Maintenance of Roads Contractual of $1,463.74, Machinery Contractual of $1,448.74 and Snow Removal Contractual of $9,624.18. Water District - Transmission & Distribution Contractual of $1,355.75.
Major revenue: General Fund - Franchise Fees of $4,409.94, Interest and Earnings of $4,816.04 and Fines and Forfeited Bail of $8,875.00. Highway Fund - Sales Tax Distribution of $75,762.00.
There were 621 hits on the web site for the month of February.
The Town Hall will be closed on Friday, March 25 for Good Friday.
At the Agenda Meeting we decided that if any department wishes to use the grant writer, they must get approval from the Town Board. A Town Board member will contact Susan Lombardi.
We looked into the cost of printing the Senior Citizen’s Newsletter on our town equipment. It will be $10.00 per hundred copies. They have decided to do something other than use town equipment.
The State Police have asked for a water cooler for the substation. The water is very poor quality. John and Ron will work together to purchase a water cooler which will be property of the town.
The legal action regarding Swartz vs. the Town of Charlton has been set for trial in Saratoga City Court for June 6 at Noon.
There will be an E-Government Seminar at the Holiday Inn on May 13 from 10:00 AM until Noon. They will be discussing web pages and how they are used by different towns. It will cost $10.00 per person. We will see if people on the E-Government Committee would like to attend.
COMMUNICATIONS:
We received a letter of resignation from the Secretary of the Assessment Review Board. We received a letter of resignation from Deborah Herrin, Co-Chairman of the Comprehensive Planning Steering Committee. We received a letter from Midge Dube, President of the Charlton Senior Citizens, stating that they will not be using the town copy machine. It is just as expensive as using an outside printer and they would still need volunteers to run the copies, fold and mail. She thanked the Board for their continued support.
ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER
Has had some calls on dogs running at large. Dogs must be licensed in the town. Lee is current on all of his inoculations.
ASSESSORS:
The notices with the new assessments went out today. The Assessors will be available for the public. Residents may call or come in.
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN:
Report to the Town Board Comprehensive Planning Steering Committee Subcommittees & Selection of Objectives and Strategies March 14, 2005
At its March 7 meeting, the CPSC agreed to establish subcommittees for the purpose of reviewing and making recommendations on whether to accept, modify or reject our planning consultant’s proposed Objectives and Strategies in order to meet our Vision Statement and Goals. We also agreed on a process to use to accomplish this complex task.
As you know, the CPSC using all the various inputs provided by our townspeople, established a Vision Statement and fourteen goals, which if accomplished, should result in the town reaching its vision.
Our consultant, Nan, has evaluated what we have said we want Charlton to be, and the goals sought, and has provided us a comprehensive list of specific and detailed objectives and strategies – or required actions that could be taken – to accomplish each goal.
Based on her education and experience, she has given us as broad a range of choices as she can. Put another way, she has given the CPSC a toolbox full of options, or tools to choose from. All of them are designed to help us achieve our goals.
The job of the CPSC is to now make sure we understand the rational or logic for each recommendation and select from the options offered the ones the CPSC believes are a good fit for Charlton. Some of what was suggested by the consultant may conceptually be fine, but need modification to ultimately make them acceptable.
Once the CPSC has finished its work selecting recommended objectives and strategies, we will hold public meetings to help educate the public on what we are recommending and why. We will also be seeking public feedback before we present the proposed plan to the Town Board. The Town Board will also be holding a public hearing before it votes on the plan.
I need to make some brief comments about the subcommittees. Every effort was made to ensure each subcommittee has equal representation from the various demographic, economic and geographic segments of Charlton. Another primary aim is to ensure each subcommittee is given an equal workload.
Although my wife thinks tells me I am corny, fighter pilots tend to be that way, I have given a name to each subcommittees to honor those that have gone before us whose deeds made a significant contribution to our community.
The Steve Jordan Subcommittee:
Dawn Szurek (Subcommittee Coordinator)Guy MitchellDoug FlynnDeborah Herrin Midge Dube
Assigned Goals:
The Gideon Hawley Subcommittee:
Christy Schrader (Subcommittee Coordinator) Richard Smith Dave Adams Jim Leupold Maria McCullock
Assigned Goals
The Elmer Smith Subcommittee:
Gary Vanderhorst (Subcommittee Coordinator)Albert LaRueSteve Caine Marv Schorr Jenna Smith Len Wessell
Assigned Goals
The Frank Lafforthun Subcommittee:
Sally Elms (Subcommittee Coordinator) Dave WoodDean Durst Lynda Battenhausen Andrea Herrin Bill Heilman
Assigned Goals
As a citizen, I appreciate the commitment of all CPSC members. I would also like to express my gratitude to the four individuals that have agreed to coordinate the activities of each of the committees.
I should also give you a brief over view of the process we agreed for selecting recommended objectives and strategies.
Procedure for selecting Objectives and Strategies (O/Ss)
Following completion of this activity, Nan will pull together the first draft of the entire plan. It will then be shared with the public and ultimately with the Town Board for a vote.
CONSTABLES:
For the month of February there were 27 patrols, answered 5 911 calls, covered 2 emergency calls, covered 2,250 miles, issued 25 tickets and investigated 2 accidents.
ECC:
The Road Side Clean up will be Saturday, April 30 from 8:00 A.M. until Noon followed by the Tree Give Away from Noon until 1:00 P.M. We will be adding a new member to the ECC Committee.
E-GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE:
At our first meeting John Kelly and Jim Leupold were appointed as Co-Chairman and Torben Aabo will serve as secretary. We will be meeting again on March 22.
HIGHWAY:
The new backhoe is here. There was a meeting with Ron regarding the road repairs that would be coming up. He has chosen to reconstruct Lasher Road, DeGraff Road and Dawson Road. The portion of Lasher Road that will be done will be the portion that we own up to the Ballston line. The entire length of DeGraff Road will be done from Route 67 to Western Avenue. Dawson Road will be done from the Glenville town line to Crane Street. There has been some concern over the intersection of Dawson Road and Crane Street. Presently there is a green triangle in the middle. Cars are not yielding to traffic. Councilman Grattidge proposed changing the “Y” intersection into a “T” intersection. The triangle would be removed, ditches brought in to the normal width of a roadbed and a stop sign placed at the end of Dawson Road. He said he had spoken with a number of the neighbors. They are interested in seeing the intersection changed. He would like to have an informational meeting with the neighbors to get additional input. Ron did not feel it would be a problem to incorporate the change into the road construction. We will be moving forward on that. There are problems with the roof at the highway garage. It needs to be patched or replaced. Ron will get some estimates when the weather is better. They have been busy with snow storms. Supervisor Acunto asked if there had been any other discussion about Featherbed Lane. Councilman Grattidge said Ron did some work on it this summer and felt he had done what was needed to alleviate the situation. We did no major reconstruction. The neighbors did not want to see the road paved. We want to see it remain safe for the school buses. Councilman Lippiello asked if we did any work to open the drainage a little. Lee Bramer stated that last year they shaped up the road to give it a crown so the road would get rid of the water. The neighbors drew up a petition because they were concerned with us coming in and digging up ditches. They wanted to see a single lane road as it had looked many years ago. Supervisor Acunto stated that sometimes the needs and wants of the residents don’t coincide with the needs and wants of the school bus superintendent and emergency services people.
HISTORIAN:
Laura has been working on a resolution for the Stauffers. A farewell party was given in their honor at the Historical Society by Mary Simoni and Ethel Maloney. A resolution is a way to record our town history. Laura attended the Planning Board Public Hearing concerning the Town Hall. She is working on a letter explaining the history of the land the town hall will be built on. She does not believe we will find any historic artifacts there. The Capital Region Archives is planning a dinner next fall. The federal government has withdrawn funding for The National Historic Publications and Records Commission. The Historians are trying to get that reinstated. Laura brought some information for the “Newcomers Packets” for new residents. Laura wrote a letter of recommendation for Jenna Smith. She has been chosen as a semi-finalist for the Coca Cola Scholars Program, a nationwide competition. There are 751 winners who will be flown to Atlanta. The finalists will each receive $20,000 in scholarships. Laura said she is disappointed to hear that they want to remove the island from the middle of Dawson Road. She understands the reasons for that but it is part of historic Charlton. Each time we remove something it takes away more of our character.
HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION:
They met last month. They will be meeting again next Wednesday. They are working on information for the web site. Supervisor Acunto said that he read in the last minutes about going to Sue Lombardi. Make sure that they get the information that they need to go through Dot before they contact Sue.
LIBRARY:
Councilman Lippiello passed out copies of the 2004 Annual Report. The library keeps growing. They issued 623 new cards which is 60% more than before the new library was opened. There are a total of 5338 cardholders. 174,000 new items are in circulation. The library needs some additional personnel. PARK COMMITTEE:
They have had an application for baseball use.
PLANNING BOARD:
Their next meeting will be a week from tonight at 7:30 P.M. The new town hall site plan is on the agenda and a number of other subdivisions.
RECORDS ADVISORY BOARD:
The Board met last week. Two books were chosen to be preserved this year. We will be discussing grants for the vault including supplies, labor, shelving, etc. We would like the other town offices to know that we are here to help them with proper storage of records. We would like to designate one day a year as a day when offices would transfer any necessary records to the vault. We would like to see space designated in the basement where our records management clerk or any departments can work on records outside of the vault. We currently have one vacancy on the Board. If anyone is interested they can contact Gail, Dot or Laura. Our next meeting will be April 28 at 7:30 P.M. We are hoping to have Dave Lowry, our Regional Advisory Officer attend. Several of us planned to attend a workshop at Saratoga County on Electronic Document Imaging but it was cancelled due to the weather. Laura stated that the Records Advisory Board is responsible for all town records. We are generating records all the time. We should all work together on the type of storage and furniture we will have.
TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY BOARD:
They are working on their charter. They have had a couple of requests from different employees to look at problems with software and hardware.
Councilman Lippiello asked if it was necessary for the Technology Advisory Board and the E-Government Board to come back to the Town Board with their charter. Councilman Verola said she felt they should come to the Board so they can review it and make sure they doing what the Board wants them to do. At some point the Technology Board and E-Government Board will have a joint meeting. (Changed tape) George Eggleston asked if a member of the Technology Board could attend the upcoming E-Government Seminar. It was decided we will ask the members if they want to attend.
TOWN HALL:
They are continuing on the site plan. There will be an Informational Meeting on Monday, March 28 at 7:00 P.M. This is before the Agenda Meeting. We will be presenting our final design and providing information for how the town proposes to pay for it. There will be no town tax. Financial Consultant Jeanine Caruso, Architect Paul Vosburgh and Town Attorney Bob VanVranken will be present.
VETERAN’S RECOGNITION BOARD:
We are still collecting names. The new names will be on the board before the Memorial Day service. Councilman Lippiello said there had been some questions regarding people who have served in the Guards. Several veterans have indicated to Estella they would prefer not to have Guards names included along with those who have served in the armed forces.
WATER:
He is continuing with daily testing for the NYS Department of Health. Readings of residual chlorination remain about the same. She has not made a determination if we will need to go to chlorination or not. The Department of Health is now requiring us to do some of the same testing as Glenville. Jim Mitchell, our town engineer, has been in contact with an engineer with the Division of Water in ENCON. Councilman Lippiello read a proposed letter from Jim Mitchell to ENCON asking for permission for the town to file a water supply application once a year and include all individuals that have been connected during the year. The letter was approved by Bob VanVranken. The Board gave permission for Jim to mail the letter. It is the same procedure that we followed last year.
ZBA:
They will be hearing an application for an area variance in April.
ZONING ADMINISTRATOR:
For the month of February they issued 3 building permits, 9 CO’s and collected $848.00. Dave said he received a call from ENCON today about the bulk storage facility at the Getty Station on Stage Road. They are in violation of a bulk storage facility permit.
RESOLUTIONS:
Motion made by Councilman Grattidge, seconded by Councilman Verola that Resolution #71, A RESOLUTION APPOINTING JAY WILKINSON AS AN ALTERNATE MEMBER TO THE PLANNING BOARD, be approved:
Approved: Councilman Grattidge Yes Councilman Lippiello Yes Councilman Mitchell Yes Councilman Verola Yes Supervisor Acunto Yes
Motion made by Councilman Grattidge, seconded by Councilman Verola that Resolution #72, A RESOLUTION APPOINTING LANE JASTREBSKI AS A MEMBER OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION COMMISSION, be approved:
Approved: Councilman Grattidge Yes Councilman Lippiello Yes Councilman Mitchell Yes Councilman Verola Yes Supervisor Acunto Yes
Motion made by Councilman Grattidge, seconded by Councilman Verola that Resolution #73, A RESOLUTION TO ENTER INTO A CONTRACT WITH WILLIAMS, MCMANUS AND RICCIARDELLI, P.C., be approved:
Councilman Grattidge asked if the price included the justices. Supervisor Acunto said the original quote was $1,500.00 less. They charged $750.00 for each justice bringing the total to $6,600.00.
Approved: Councilman Grattidge Yes Councilman Lippiello Yes Councilman Mitchell Yes Councilman Verola Yes Supervisor Acunto Yes
The resolution for the sale of the police car will not be passed. It was determined we will discuss at the agenda meeting what we would do regarding the sale of the car.
Motion made by Councilman Mitchell, seconded by Councilman Grattidge that Resolution #74, A RESOLUTION APPOINTING CHRISTINA BUBLAK AS A MEMBER OF THE RECORDS ADVISORY BOARD, be approved:
Approved: Councilman Grattidge Yes Councilman Lippiello Yes Councilman Mitchell Yes Councilman Verola Yes Supervisor Acunto Yes COUNCILMAN REPORTS:
Supervisor Acunto - Congratulated the Burnt Hills Ballston Lake Girls and Boys Basketball Teams for successful seasons this year. There are 5 young ladies from Charlton that play on the girl’s team. Councilman Verola – I want to make it understood that the reason that the Town Board has agreed to do the audit and contract with this company is that our primary concern is our internal controls and our procedures. No one, and I believe I can speak for the whole Board, thinks that anyone is doing anything wrong. There is no suspicion there. There is no concern there. Our concern is strictly with our procedures and making sure that we are up to date in the year 2005. Councilman Grattidge – Party in the Park will meet Wednesday at 7:00 P.M. Everything is progressing well. Bulk Item Pick Up will be May 2-6. We are working cooperation with County Waste. We will be picking up household furniture, TV’s, computers, mattresses, air conditioners, lawn mowers, glass, all metals, washers, dryers and hot water tanks. We cannot take brush, demolition materials, paint, motor vehicles, engines, tires, propane tanks and any hazardous materials. County Waste will pick up leaves, brush and grass clippings from every resident from April 7 – December 1. Pick up will be every Thursday. Brush must be cut in 5-foot lengths and tied into bundles. Grass clippings and leaves and can be put in biodegradable bags or in open topped trash containers. The Park Committee and the Historic District Commission should get together before the town hall project is undertaken to discuss how the walking path and the lighting pattern is going to work in the existing town park and adapted on. There should probably be some changes in the fence. We need to do something with the landscaping around the salt shed when the roof work is completed. Councilman Mitchell – The deadline for the next newsletter is April 14. Thanked Deborah Herrin for serving as Co-Chair of the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee. Thanked Chris Nelson for her work with the Assessment Review Board. Councilman Lippiello – Thanked Deborah for Co-Chairing the Planning Committee and her time commitment.
PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR:
Steve Caine – Charlton Road – I am a veteran of active duty having served in Viet Nam. I feel very strongly as an active duty veteran………my son is a guardsman who has been in two wars. We have guardsmen dying with regularity right now. If any of these guardsmen or women were called to active duty they would be there in a flash just like active duty. I heard what I considered small reasons for not having them on the Board. These are patriots just like anybody else and if they are called upon they are there. (Could not understand). These people get an honorable discharge and serve their country and if they haven’t gone to war, they deserve to be on there.
Laura stated that the Erie Canal is now a National Heritage Corridor. Brookside Museum is trying to raise funding. It is our Saratoga County Museum. You can buy a brick in their walkway. We will be placing the Memorial Day flags on the veteran’s graves on Saturday, May 7.
The Agenda Meeting is on March 28. It is scheduled for 7:30 P.M. but will probably start later because of the Informational Meeting at 7:00 P.M.
After everyone had the opportunity to speak who wished, the meeting was adjourned at 8:50 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Gail Hanchar Town Clerk
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